Soon after Nintendo
arrived in the mid-eighties, almost every game
developer in existence wanted to write games for
the little console. Konami, Capcom, and Acclaim
were just a few of the scores and scores of companies
that started making games to fill the NES library.
Early on, these companies, in co-operation with
Nintendo, started adapting arcade games to the
system. Some games, like Contra, became more popular
in their NES states that they ever were as coin-ops.
Similarly, Nintendo took advantage of the movie
industry and many "movie games" made
their way to the NES. Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom fell in between
these two categories. Not only was it a "movie
game" but it was also an arcade conversion.
In addition, there were 2 versions of Temple
of Doom for the NES. One was distributed
by Mindscape. Tengen, the makers of Nintendo's
adaptation of Gauntlet, distributed the other.

The
Tengen edition of Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom came in an
uncharacteristic, snazzy black cartridge. At the
time this game was released, Tengen had pulled
their license with Nintendo and was making unlicensed
carts for the NES. Indy's game was one of them.
Understandably, Tengen found themselves in a lawsuit
with the people at Nintendo Entertainment for
the infringement. As a result, the Tengen cartridge
of Temple of Doom
is considered to be a relatively rare game in
NES collector's circles. The Mindscape version
was officially licensed by Nintendo and came in
the familiar grey cartridge, which is also rare,
but not as rare as the Tengen cart. The cartridge
designs and the box covers are the only differences
between these two games. The software itself is
exactly the same.

Story and Gameplay

The game itself is loosely based
on the arcade game. The premise is the same. As
Indy, you must work your way through the slave
mines and cart tunnels, freeing the children,
whipping the Thuggees, and evading Mola Ram to
capture the Sankara Stones. Those are the only
similarities however. The game layout is very
different. The Atari arcade game follows the following
pattern: Slave Mines, Mine Cart, Temple of Kali,
Slave Mines, Mine Cart, Temple of Kali, etc. The
Tengen game does things a little differently.
Here, the game goes like this: Slave Mines, Mine
Cart, Slave Mines, Mine Cart, Slave Mines, Mine
Cart, etc.

The opening
screen.

Unlike the arcade game, you do not
run into the Kali Temple every two rounds and
get a Sankara Stone. Instead, you are expected
to fight your way through a seemingly endless
amount of mines and cart tunnels, saving children,
and avoiding the Thuggees. Like the arcade, you
have your whip and you can use it to daze the
guards, knock them into pits, spark oil drums,
and swing to other platforms. What is strange
is that the whip is 90% invisible when used and
when swinging on a post, Indy seems to be flying
through the air with his arms raised. Tengen also
gave Indy the ability to jump in this game, and
while that sounds exciting, this ability tends
to cause frustration for new players as Indy's
default direction for jumping is downwards, regardless
of what direction he is facing. As a result, if
you are not consciously holding the direction
you want Indy to leap in, he will automatically
jump downwards, usually into a lava pit in a pitiful
display of accidental suicide.

Indy's arsenal in this adaptation
has been updated to include pistols, knives, and
TNT, all of which can be used to vanquish the
Thuggees. The knives and pistols are collected
as "rewards" from the children Indy
saves, and the TNT is procured from small caches
that require the knives to open. These extra weapons
are finite and must be used sparingly as they
become harder to come by later in the game and
more desperately needed. This is because the later
levels incorporate large lava pits that Indy must
traverse, and the only way to do this is to kill
what can only be described as "lava alligators"
so that they float to the top and Indy can walk
on their heads. As the levels progress, there
are more children to rescue, more intricate (almost
crazy) networks of conveyor belts and mine carts
to traverse, and an endless number of lava pits
and Thuggees to deal with. You'll know when you've
reached the Temple of Kali when you come to a
huge lake of lava that stretches off screen. Hope
you have been saving the TNT and pistol ammunition
because Indy's going to need all of it to find
the right "alligator path" to cross
the lake. On the other side, the statue of Kali
waits with the Sankara Stones. Even after you
grab them, do not rejoice yet because NES Temple
of Doom is hardly finished with you. Indy
faces another series of mines and tunnels before
he can escape to the rope bridge, fight Mola Ram,
and escape the Temple of Doom.

I'll be the first to admit that
I have owned this game since 1988 and I have still
been unable to clear it. I have made it to the
Sankara Stones and captured them on quite a few
occasions, but I can never escape with my life.
By the time you reach the level past the Temple
of Kali, usually all of you resources are exhausted
having been spent on the lake crossing and you
have probably lost 90% of your extra lives.

Nintendo's Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom is hardly
the best Indy game out there. The game control
is loose and sloppy, the color scheme will make
your eyes sting after only fifteen minutes of
game play, the levels are repetitive and too numerous,
Indy looks like he's wearing a medical intern's
dirty coveralls, and I hear that the ending to
this game is hardly the fanfare one deserves for
suffering through the ordeal. Instead, the game
gives you mere text congratulations. The game
is unendingly frustrating because of these factors
(well, maybe not the last one about Indy's clothes,
but you get the idea). The only saving grace to
the game is a respectable attempt to preserve
John Williams' musical score.

If you are a Nintendo fanatic, you
will want this cartridge (or both as the case
may be) in your library for its relative scarcity.
If you are a collector of what I like to call
"Indy Stuff" you will want it for the
obvious as well as its rarity. If you are looking
for an enjoyable and nostalgic NES gaming experience,
there are over 700 titles for the legendary little
Nintendo to choose from besides this one. If however,
you have made a goal for yourself to beat every
Indiana Jones game ever made (which is very respectable)
then by all means run this game into the ground,
don't leave without the stones, and be sure to
let me know how you did it! Good luck, Indy! (MF)

This
site is in no way affiliated with Lucasfilm Ltd. or Paramount
Pictures. Copyrights and trademarks for the films, books,
articles, and other promotional materials are held by
their respective owners and their use is allowed under
the
fair use clause of the Copyright
Law.
Hosting provided by Nexcess.net